The number of rentals under $400 has halved since the start of the pandemic back in early 2020
A peak Queensland housing body has warned that Townsville is on the verge of a “rental emergency” ahead of a crucial housing summit this week.
Q Shelter, which will present a submission to the Queensland Housing Summit on Thursday, has warned that a crisis is looming in the garrison city if new approaches to housing affordability and homelessness were not found soon.
MORE NEWS: The QLD regions where it is now impossible to rent for under $400
From holiday park to home: How this QLD mum finally got a rental
Revealed: Heat maps show QLD’s rent ‘red zone’ crisis
Townsville has almost 1500 people who experience homelessness, according to Q Shelter Picture: nkbimages / iStock
Q Shelter’s executive director Fiona Caniglia said the city and its regions were already experiencing high rental costs and record low vacancy rates, adding that the end of the federally-funded National Rental Subsidy Scheme (NRAS) in 2026 would only exacerbate the number of people using crisis services and applying for social housing.
“Townsville has almost 1500 people who experience homelessness, with 6624 people
supported by specialist homelessness services, and 1,660 on the social housing register,” Ms
Caniglia said.
“These are disturbing numbers, and we need to continue the national conversation around
housing affordability to ensure the rental crisis doesn’t worsen more than what it is.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk chairs an urgent Housing Roundtable to address affordable housing challenges in September ahead of this week’s Housing Summit. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass
The latest PropTrack Market Insight Report revealed that the number of dwellings – houses and units – on the market for less than $400 a week had halved since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
The research found that 79.1 per cent of all rental listings in March 2022 were $400 or less, with that number falling to 60.1 per cent in September last year and to 40.5 per cent in September this year.
For houses, the percentage of rental listings under $400 is now 27.4 per cent compared to 74.3 per cent in March 2020, while for units it is now 65.5 per cent compared to 88.6 per cent back then.
“In regional Queensland, the share of rentals below $400 a week is also at a record low, falling from 49.5 per cent at the start of the pandemic to 21.9 per cent in September 2022,” the report said.
“With the supply of rental properties continuing to tighten, the share of listings under $400 a week is expected to reduce even further over the next year.”
In August, Townsville single mum Monique Geordie and her 10-month-old son Dequan Wachter spoke of how they were homeless after a desperate months-long search for a rental Picture: Shae Beplate.
The Queensland Housing Summit will be held on Thursday and will be attended by over 150 housing and homelessness experts including all three levels of government.
“A challenge of this nature really needs all levels of Government, the not-for-profit sector, private sector and the community working together in new and innovative ways,” Ms Caniglia said.
“The complexity of housing systems requires varied interventions including a clear policy
framework supporting housing and land supply, backed by genuine investment.
“There is no single answer but rather an interlocking set of urgent initiatives that must be
advanced as quickly as possible.”
Working alongside Townsville housing networks, Q Shelter is calling for a range of initiatives to be implemented to address Queensland’s dire housing shortage.
Oku submission here.
